"A specifically evolutionary phenomenon"

In the Long Run We Are All Dead: Keynesianism, Political Economy, and Revolution (PDF, 362 pages) by Geoff Mann, 2017.

 
From note 15 for chapter 1:

There is a great deal that separates Freud from Keynes and Keynesianism, but it is nonetheless true that on the question of civilization, Keynes thought along lines almost exactly the same as those laid out by Freud. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud posits civilization [Kultur] as a specifically evolutionary phenomenon ... Keynes shared Freud’s contentions that the “replacement of the power of the individual by the power of a community constitutes the decisive step in civilization,” that human life “in common is only made possible when a majority comes together which is stronger than any separate individual and which remains united against all separate individuals.” ... Freud clearly helped him [Keynes] think and see things in a new light.

 

Okay. When Mann says "Keynes thought along lines almost exactly the same as those laid out by Freud" and when he says "Keynes shared Freud’s contentions", these are Mann's observations, not Keynes's. I don't know what Keynes thinks until I see Keynes saying it himself (and sometimes not even then). So my objection to Mann's words here is the same as in mine of the 14th: Mann is presenting his own theory and calling it Keynes's.

However, mine of the 14th quotes a fragment from Mann's preface. And today's quote is part of a footnote. Neither quote is part of the main body of the book. But even if they were, those quotes are not evidence that Mann doesn't show Keynes expressing the same ideas himself.

They are not evidence that Keynes DOES say those things, but they are also not evidence that Keynes DOESN'T say those things. I get that.

But those quotes ARE evidence that MANN IS SAYING Keynes says those things. And this, for me, is a barrier to my acceptance of the thought that I want to accept, which is that Keynes did say those things. Mann plants the idea in my mind when he says Keynes said it. He makes me think Keynes said it. But he has shown me no evidence that Keynes said it.

I am in danger of accepting without evidence the idea that Keynes said some particular thing. My only rational response is to distrust the source of this information: Mann.

My reaction of the 14th was to distrust the source. A better reaction would have been to look for better evidence.

That's what I've been doing since the 14th. Today I present a quote that I like a lot. But I still don't see evidence that Keynes thought those things.

Today's quote, from the footnote, is important to me because of the ideas it contains:

• I think civilization is a specifically evolutionary phenomenon (though I would omit the word "specifically" because it complicates the idea).
  
  
• I think it is true that “replacement of the power of the individual by the power of a community constitutes the decisive step in civilization”. I also think Athelstan's Grately code is an example (and was a big part) of that replacement of power.
  
  
• I think Freud's contention regarding "a majority" versus "separate individuals" is fascinating. (But I neither accept nor reject it at this time. And I still don't see Keynes saying he shared Freud's contentions.)
  

Mann gives me no reason to be convinced that Keynes thought along similar lines. I keep thinking about the boss at my old job. Whenever he wanted us to do something, he's say "Steve wants you to do it." Steve was the boss's boss.

People would stop challenging the boss's orders and just do the work when the boss said Steve wants it. But that doesn't mean Steve wanted what the boss said he wanted. Saying "Steve wants it" was just a way to get people to go along.

Geoff Mann uses that technique when he tells us what Keynes was thinking. Geoff Mann wants the reader to go along with what Geoff Mann is saying, so Geoff Mann says Keynes said it.

The main body of the book awaits.